Robot 6

Comics A.M. | Could NYCC become ‘the comic convention’?

Conventions | Jason Knize makes a case for New York Comic Con potentially becoming “the Comic Con” next year, surpassing Comic-Con International as the completion of renovations on the Jacob Javits Center frees up an additional 90,000 square feet of space. However, he notes that space and attendance — NYCC’s 116,000 this year versus CCI’s 130,000 or so — certainly aren’t the only determining factors. [Panels on Pages]

Comics | Don MacPherson, who’s a newspaper reporter as well as a comics blogger, ponders Clark Kent’s departure from The Daily Planet in this week’s Superman #13: “In the scene in which Clark issues his ideological proclamation, Perry White retorts, ‘Go easy on us mortals, Clark. Times are changing and print is a dying medium.’ The challenges the Planet faces in the story reflect not only real-world ones in the newspaper industry, but also those faced by DC Comics itself as it struggles to stave off ebbing readership and find a way to foster an audience for online comics. Digital-publishing initiatives in the world of comics aside, I feel it important to argue Perry is wrong. Print isn’t a dying medium. What’s dying are past business models.” [Eye on Comics]

Christian Beranek

Creators | Rich Johnston has a lengthy interview with Christian Beranek, co-founder of Kingdom Comics and the Webcomics Factory, in which Beranek does most of the talking. Beranek’s transgender status came to the fore last week after an Twitter argument about digital comics with Larry Doherty of Larry’s Comics took an unfortunate turn; Doherty has since apologized. In the interview, Beranek talks about her experiences as a comics creator and as a transgender person before and after deciding to live as a woman. [Bleeding Cool]

Creators | Toronto writer Jason Kieffer discusses the graphic novel he is creating about a local character, David Zancai, a former construction worker who walked around downtown Toronto clad only in shorts, work boots and a Santa hat, and was known for doing knuckle push-ups in odd places. Zancai’s disruptive behavior eventually got him banned from much of downtown, but Kieffer was fascinated by the person behind the clownish exterior: “He’s not like the character on the street, where he’s loud, and dominant. … I found him to be a really kind, genuine person. That gets missed.” [Torontoist]

The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln

Creators | Robin McConnell interviews Noah van Sciver about his new book The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln for the Inkstuds podcast. [Inkstuds]

Creators | TimTrue has a pint with brothers Gary and Warren Pleece, whose collected works have just been published in a giant anthology, The Great Unwashed. [Sex, Drugs, and Comic Books]

Creators | Christopher Irving looks at the life and work of artist Gray Morrow, who came into comics at just the wrong time. [The Comics Journal]

Comics | The news broke during New York Comic Con that Dynamite will publish a graphic novel based on the NBC series Grimm. Alex Zalben e-mailed Chris Lucero, director of licensing for NBC Universal Television Consumer Products, and got a few more details—nothing yet on the writer or artist, but a firmer idea of the concept: ” We’re really hoping to build out the ‘Grimm-verse’ and its mythology. Though we’re in the early stages of creative on the comics, we plan to explore plot lines and elements from the series that can’t be dealt with on air as fully and deeply as we’d like to. Our hope is that fans will get to experience some in-show related elements as well as some of the history behind the order of Grimms and Wesen.” [MTV Geek]

Publishing | First Second editor Calista Brill explains copyediting (which is different from editing), and includes some marginal notes to and from creators. [First Second]

Exhibits | Robot 6 contributor J. Caleb Mozzocco paid a visit to the new Superman exhibit at the Cleveland airport, and he took lots of pictures, too. [Comics Alliance]

Criticism | Noah Berlatsky examines the question of whether comics are an appropriate format for journalistic works such as Joe Sacco’s Footnotes in Gaza. [The Hooded Utilitarian]

Retailing | Zac Boone offers three ways to support your local comics retailer without spending more money. [Unleash the Fanboy]